


Dearly Beloved

by FortunesRevolver



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Also featuring some generic villagers., And technically Zenrus., M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 01:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5228858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FortunesRevolver/pseuds/FortunesRevolver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the sweet, innocent promises of childhood are lost to the passage of time. While recuperating from his long sleep as Maotelus' vessel, Sorey finds that he's not the only one who held the meaning behind their simple vow close to his heart. [Some end-game spoilers.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dearly Beloved

The first time Sorey sees the word, he’s not entirely certain what it means. Despite having context surrounding it, it sounds little more than a label for something he’s not sure he grasps. He commits it to memory and begins to dig through book after book, trying to find the meaning behind it in a more concrete way he can understand. His results, however, are less than satisfactory, and he soon finds himself carried away on tiny feet across the fields of Elysia to ask the wisest person he knows.

By the time he leaves Zenrus’ house, he is decidedly less confused and starts across the village, his face set in determination. The Seraphim around him watch in amusement, but before any of them can step up and remind him that he’s not supposed to leave the village alone, Zenrus has already stepped outside and waved them off. Sorey doesn’t intend to go very far, and he’ll be back soon. It leaves most confused, but they accept his answer; the all-knowing twinkle in his eyes is enough to set them at ease.

It isn’t long before Sorey is running back into Elysia, his hands and cheeks boasting clumps of dirt and his knees stained pale green from crawling in grass. His hands are cradled together, cupping something no one can see as he scurries toward one of the cliffs that make up the borders of Elysia, and it isn’t long before curious onlookers know why.

As if following his own internal homing device, Sorey makes an immediate beeline toward a group of Seraphim that sit in a circle with Mikleo at the centre. Their voices are quiet as they speak of Seraphic Artes and how to use them, and Mikleo listens with eyebrows drawn together in intense concentration.

The serious atmosphere is broken as Sorey approaches with a loud, friendly greeting that receives several soft ones in return.

“Sorey?” Mikleo looks surprised to see him there. They’d already talked about the lessons he was to receive in the morning, before the afternoon would be spent exploring. It’s still far too early to meet up, but Sorey doesn’t seem to be eager to leave. “What are you doing here?”

Without pause, Sorey squats in front of Mikleo and grins, his eyes sparkling with delight as he grabs one of Mikleo’s hands and tugs it closer to his chest.

“Mikleo!” Sorey’s grin only grows as he brings his other hand, still closed, to their line of sight. “When we get older…” His voice trails off as his fingers unfurl to reveal a small, slightly crushed flower fashioned into a ring sitting at the centre of his palm. “Let’s get married!”

For a moment, silence passes over the group as Mikleo looks as baffled as Sorey felt upon discovering the new word. His gaze moves from the flower to Sorey’s face several times, as if trying to spot a hidden meaning behind the gesture he’d missed at first glance.

“Married?” Mikleo finally repeats, looking down at the flower again. “What are you talking about?”

“I read it in one of our books!” Sorey explains brightly, unperturbed by the muffled snickers of the older Seraphim around them. “Gramps said it’s a kind of ceremony that’s really popular with humans.” When his words don’t seem to spark a reaction in Mikleo, he continues quickly. “He said that it’s a really important promise that two people make to spend forever together.”

The reaction is almost immediate. A strawberry macaroon hue spreads across Mikleo’s face as his lips part, but no words come out. Sorey, still oblivious to the growing laughter around them, looks up at Mikleo with excited anticipation. It’s several minutes before Mikleo speaks again, and when he does, his tone is slow, but filled with certainty.

“Okay.” It’s not an elaborate response, but the promise Sorey is offering him is all too appealing. Zenrus has voiced to him too many times that there might come a day when Sorey leaves the village to live among the humans, as if that’s where he truly belongs. The worries have never sat well in Mikleo’s mind, and some part of him believes it’s selfish to agree, but if there’s even a small chance he won’t lose the most precious friend he has, then he’ll grasp it without hesitation. “…then what is the flower for?”

“Oh!” Sorey looks down at his palm, then to Mikleo, and a sheepish look crosses his face. “Well, Gramps said there’s a ceremony, and the people give each other rings. I didn’t have one, so…” He lifts the ring gingerly between two fingers and slides it onto one of Mikleo's slender fingers. “I thought we could use this until we can get real ones.”

The childish display only fuels the villager’s amusement and they stand up, giving Sorey and Mikleo encouraging pats on their head and shoulders before walking away. They don’t want to interrupt their ‘honeymoon’ – another word Sorey will have to look into. But for now, it doesn’t matter.

Mikleo’s hand is cool in his, and the colour on his pale cheeks makes his eyes look even prettier than normal. Just the fact that that he said yes is enough to fill Sorey with a sense of joy he doesn’t quite understand, but he doesn’t need to. His hand tightens around Mikleo’s as he offers another warm smile, and the shy one he receives in return is enough to make his young heart soar.

* * *

Many, many years later, Sorey is sitting in a plush chair with a thick tome atop his lap. Tanned fingers turn the pages at a slow, even pace, his mind not fully absorbing what he’s reading. It has only been a few days since his return, and his body is still adjusting back to day-to-day functions. Most of his time has been spent reading, trying to update himself on everything he’s missed while Mikleo fills in the holes as they go on walks to help build up strength.

It’s amazing just how little he has lost; toned muscle is still there, muscles that have not yet faded, but are stiff from lack of use, as if he had taken a nap in an awkward position for just a little too long. He’s grateful for this, very grateful, as returning only to be a liability was the last thing he wants. Mikleo insists it is fine, more than once, that no matter how long it takes, he will help Sorey get back to where he used to be. It’s a gesture he knows all too well – one he’s offered Mikleo many times himself whenever the Seraph fell ill or injured.

As his mind wanders, he turns another page and something falls to the floor. Thinking he has lost one of Mikleo’s various bookmarks, he immediately bends forward, reaching out to pick it up. The texture of the object is wrong, and Sorey blinks against the dull lantern light as he sets the book aside to lean further down and better see what has fallen. Something white stands out against the dark floor, and as he gingerly scoops it up, Sorey feels his heart catch in his throat.

He doesn’t know how much time passes as he stares at the small object in his hand, but it isn’t until he hears a familiar voice call his name that he finally looks up and sees Mikleo peering at him wearily. The light of the lantern only seems to absorb into his pale, snow-like hair, giving it a mango sorbet glow that dances in his eyes as he takes a step forward. Sorey’s sudden stillness and flabbergasted expression leaves him feeling uneasy, and for a moment, both remain still for fear of breaking the atmosphere that has settled between them.

“…Sorey?” Mikleo finally tries again, his tone careful and low, another half-step forward breaking Sorey out of his trance. A smile spreads over his face with the ease of freshly melted chocolate, and every bit just as sweet. It takes Mikleo by surprise and he doesn’t notice his breath hitch as Sorey closes the distance between them with several long strides.  

“Hey, Mikleo…” Sorey begins, taking a gloved hand in his as he places the fallen object from before into the centre of Mikleo’s palm. Once free, his free hand slides down the side of Mikleo’s arm, ghosting over blue to white to brown until he finally finds the hand he’s looking for and laces their fingers together with such ease, it feels as natural as breathing. A soft squeeze is all it takes for Mikleo’s grip to tighten, and the gesture is returned with an apple dumpling smile.

He might not still fully understand the meaning behind the word or the ceremonies he was once told it entailed, but he knows, without a doubt, that the promise of ‘forever’ with Mikleo sounds almost as beautiful as the look he receives from his next words.

_“Let’s get married.”_

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an idea that was swirling around my head for a while. I don't remember what exactly struck me to think that Sorey and Mikleo probably wouldn't have learned about a lot of "normal" human things like marriage and such, but I voiced this to a friend of mine, and somehow, this spawned from that. I'm still not sure I executed it properly, but here's hoping my first Zestiria fic (and first Tales of fic in a while) somehow brings at least a small amount of enjoyment to all of the readers. (But holy hell, pressed flowers can last a lifetime and a half if you're careful, like damn.)
> 
> All the sweet references are things that Mikleo is able to make in-game. Save for melted chocolate, but he had enough chocolate-related items that I just went with it. These two seem to love sweets and somehow that just makes them all the more adorable. ...though I think mostly I was just hungry and everything he makes sounds delicious.
> 
> Sorey and Mikleo will be the end of me, I swear. I went into this game expecting to (maybe) ship them casually. Then they stole my heart and ran away with it, and I have no hope of getting it back.


End file.
